Warmth
by cometomyroom
Summary: Kunimasa and Norio spend some time together.


The bed creaked as Norio, fresh from the shower and decked in his pajamas, climbed onto it, or more specifically, onto Kunimasa's back. He was showered with a rainfall of drops as Norio dried his hair with a towel before tossing it on the floor carelessly and flopping down onto the man under him. To Kunimasa, the added weight was negligible- really, he should make Norio eat more, he was way too light- and it was more than compensated for by the solid warmth that spread across his back as Norio laid on him.

"Kunimasa?" Norio asked, peeking over his shoulder at the homework spread out on the bed beneath. A few strands of damp hair tickled Kunimasa's cheek. "What's that?"

"English essay," Kunimasa murmured, pencil scratching relentless across the paper. Norio's pleasant, wonderful scent seemed cleaner, almost sharper after he showered, probably because all the other underlying scents had been washed away. It was almost- _almost _- enough to distract him.

"Looks hard," Norio said sympathetically.

"Eh, it's alright." It wasn't very hard, in truth, just tedious. "Norio, be quiet for a while. I want to concentrate on this."

Norio sighed but remained silent, choosing to bury his face in the back of Kunimasa's neck. He wrapped his arms around Kunimasa and relaxed, breathing deeply. He liked talking to Kunimasa- to him it seemed like a way to get to know each other better, considering they hadn't really gone the conventional route in their… relationship. Was it a relationship? The first time they met, Kunimasa had…

His ears burned at the memory and he puffed a breath into Kunimasa's neck.

"Hmmm?" Kunimasa was used to his non-verbal cues by now- something both delighting and alarming. Delighting, because it showed Kunimasa really paid attention to him, but alarming because it meant there wasn't really anything he could hide.

"Nothing," Norio muttered. "Just do your homework."

Kunimasa chuckled, the sound reverberating through his back and through Norio's body. Norio snuggled closer and chased the distracting thoughts from his mind. The point was, he liked talking, but he knew- although the leopard didn't show it- that Kunimasa sincerely cared about his grades and also that they had slumped since Norio started spending time with him. He wasn't doing that brilliantly himself, but he was doing okay and his parents were satisfied.

Norio could definitely understand not wanting to do badly if he had Tokashiki Karen and Madarame Makio as his parents.

So he contented himself with the soothing warmth of the body beneath him and the intoxicating scent that surrounded him, closing his eyes and thinking about nothing.

* * *

"Norio?"

Kunimasa pushed the papers to the side and twisted slightly to look at the half-monkey-cat-thing lying on his back. He had been oddly silent for the better part of an hour. "Norio…"

Oh, he was sleeping. Kunimasa's lips quirked. Well, it was a school day, and Norio had extra curricular activities that afternoon. He remembered watching the first-years playing basketball. Norio wasn't too bad actually. Not exactly star quality, he needed more muscles and a bit of height for that, but he was quick and agile when circumstances called for it.

Gently and deftly, he rolled himself and Norio over so that he laid on his back with Norio still on top of him. Now they were lying chest to chest. Norio sighed in his sleep and moved up a little, pushing his face into the crook of Kunimasa's neck. Kunimasa laid there and absently pulled his fingers through the younger boy's hair, wrapping his other arm around him to stop him from rolling off. He scratched under Norio's chin and Norio responded by making a sound that sounded almost like a purr. Kunimasa quite liked the way he could pull these sounds from Norio, awake or sleeping. His ears were showing too. Madararui didn't change fully into their animals form until they were in deep sleep, so he guessed he had about an hour or so before he'd be cuddling a monkey-cat hybrid instead of a human. But he would probably be asleep himself at that point.

Maybe it was the snake blood in him, but he could admit that although he didn't _need_ the warmth offered by another body, he could certainly appreciate it. Or rather, he could appreciate _Norio_'s warmth. He'd certainly never had –or allowed- anyone else to lie on him like this, or held anyone else so intimately without having sex with them. But Norio was different.

Different wasn't so bad, Kunimasa reflected, feeling the leaden weight of sleepiness beginning to pull his eyelids, and he closed his eyes.


End file.
